Fresh Oyster Feast


18 March 2008

I rewarded myself with a “fresh oyster” feast/lunch for running my first 100 kilometers on my “1,000 Km” Club in one of the seafood restaurants along the beach of Barangay Baybay, Roxas City, near the ancestral house of Senator Mar Roxas.

At 10:00 AM, I inspected the road project my men are contructing/cementing which connects our road to the camp with the national road of Jamindan, Capiz. A distance of almost two and half kilometers is not yet cemented and my “boys” are trying to pave this portion which was left unattended for the past 20 years. So far, we have cemented almost one kilometer but the weather in Jamindan is delaying the near completion of our road project.

From the site of the road project, I brought my “security detail” to Roxas City and treated them and myself for a lunch full of the famous oyster from Roxas City. They did not expect that we were going to the seafood restaurant and they thought we were going to Mang Inasal for our lunch. By the way, the oysters that are being served in the hotels and famous restaurants in Metro Manila are harvested in Roxas City.

We ordered fresh oysters, kilawen na tangigue (fresh/raw fish soaked in vinegar), inasal na manok (chicken barbecue/broiled), sinigang na blue marlin (blue marlin sour stew), and soda drinks. We enjoyed our lunch with the strong breeze coming from the sea, the sight of a group of fishermen casting their big net far away from the beach and later seeing them pulling their net towards the seashore, and  the music of the 80’s of Duran Duran and Boy George in the background. We were six in the table and we paid only One Thousand Two Hundred Pesos for our lunch with our “Fresh Oyster Feast”. A plate of fresh oysters (12-15 pieces) costs Forty Pesos Only! I finished almost two plates of fresh oysters.

On our way back to the camp, we have to stop along the way to supervise the “fixing” and filling of boulders and gravel to the muddy portions of the road that connects to the camp. The road had been muddy and soft due to the continuous rains. Our “boys” had been called to repair the road to make it passable from all types of vehicle. 

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This is an ascending portion of the road where an old Ford Fiera was stucked on the road due to loose soil & muddy road.

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Hopefully, this part of the road will be cemented as soon as the weather will cooperate with us. This is part of the road that connects to our camp from the Jamindan National Road which was neglected for the past 20 years.

Hill & “Fartlek” Runs


17 March 2008 (4:54-6:30 PM)

I had my Monday afternon run at the camp, along the 2-mile run course. After my usual 15-minute stretching exercises, I started to warm-up with a slow jog for about a 800 meters. I made my first “surge/fartlek” run which lasted for 1 minute (60 seconds) and slowly jog for 45 seconds in between runs. I made at least 12 “fartlek” runs/repetitions while running along the 2-mile route. I saw to it that my 1-minute speed runs are done on the ascending portions of my route with the rest/slow jog done on the flat and downhill portions. Sometimes, I had at least 2-3 “fartlek” runs on the flat portion of the course.

In order to approximately estimate one minute of my run, I count up 60-70 whenever my left foot strikes the ground or my right foot if ever I start counting with my right foot hitting the ground. I count 45-50 for my slow jog. My average pace in these “surges” or “fartlek” intervals is about 4:30-4:45 mins/km.

After the “fartlek” runs, I continued my run with my usual pace and I was able to cover an overall distance of 15.31 kilometers or 9.57 miles.

It was a nice run as the weather cooperated without any rains today in Jamindan.

The following were the registered data in my GF 305:

Distance—15.31 kilometers     Time—1:33:05 Hours

Average Pace—6:04 mins/km        Average Speed—9.9 km/hr

Maximum Speed—15.4 kms/hr      Total Calories—1,112 cal

Average HR—155 bpm                     Maximum HR—170 bpm

Total Ascent—533 meters                Total Descent—560 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—Bon Jovi/U2/Eagles 

Training Journal (10-16 March 2008)


10 March 2008—Rest/No runs

11 March 2008—Rest/No runs

12 March 2008—12.5 miles or 20 kilometers/slow run/endurance run

13 March 2008—12.5 miles or 20 kilometers/slow run/endurance run

14 March 2008—Rest/No runs/Body Massage @ Riviera Spa, Iloilo City

15 March 2008—6.4 miles or 10 kilometers/speed run at the Iloilo Oval Track

Total Distance Covered—31.4 miles or 50 kilometers

Running & Body Weight


When I was running marathons in the 80’s, my body weight then was 137-140 pounds. I was “lean and mean” and did not have so much fat in my body then and I was running 3:30:00-3:45:00 hours for the marathon; 1:30:00-1:40:00 hours for the 20K; and 39:00-42:00 minutes for the 10K. At present, my body weight is 155 pounds and I am trying to reduce weight (by running) in order to be competetive and reduce my PR time in future races. Continue reading “Running & Body Weight”

More Pictures @ 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon


09 March 2008 (6:00-8:00 AM)

The following were the other pictures taken during the conduct of the 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon:

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Running along the road in between Market! Market! Shopping Mall and Serendra Condominiums at The Fort at vicinity Km # 8 Continue reading “More Pictures @ 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon”

Collection Point (Old Running Shoes)


This is with regards with my program to accept and donate “old and used but still reliable running shoes” to other runners who are using dilapidated and tattered shoes running shoes.

Initially, the office of the DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Running Club, Inc with address at Fire Station, AFP General Headquarters, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City will be the repository of all donated shoes.

The following officers with their respective cellphone numbers will be the contact persons of this program and feel free to send them SMS or call them for the details of the program or for personal appointments:

Major Rodrigo Turno PA—0905-900-3658

Captain Ferdie Espejo PA—0917-623-2611

Approriate papers will be prepared as Acceptance Form from the donors as well as Acceptance Form duly signed by the recipient. A formal letter will be sent to the donor as to who received the running shoes he/she donated. This will promote transparency in the inventory and distribution of these items, and in the overall implementation of this program.

A “booth” will be established by the abovementioned officers in every weekend race starting with the Mizuno Infinity Run at The Fort on 30 March 2008 to accept donations and at the same time distribute these shoes to runners sporting old, dilapidated, worn-out, and tattered running shoes.

I will be bringing with me to this “booth” my old running shoes which were shown in my previous post, and additional  Merrell rubber shoes, Size 9 & a brand-new Reebok Rubber Shoes, Size 9.

Hope to see you at the Mizuno Infinity Run Assembly Area on 30 March 2008 at The Fort.

Yasso 800s @ Iloilo Oval Track


15 March 2008 (6:00-7:15 AM)

I woke up at 5:30 AM to prepare myself for my planned “speed run” at the Iloilo City Sports Complex. At 5:45 AM, I was already at the Sports Complex and I started with my stretching for about 15 minutes while watching those many Ilonggos, young and old, men and ladies, and some Koreans, walking and jogging along the oval track. In my estimate, there were at least a hundred people using the oval track!

I started a slow 800-meter (2 laps) run at 4:32 minutes with one lap (400 meters) as interval slow jog.

My first Yasso 800 lap was timed at 4:23 minutes with an Average Pace of 5:01 minutes/kilometer.

2nd Yasso 800 lap was timed at 3:38 minutes with an Average Pace of 4:27 minutes/kilometer.

3rd Yasso 800 lap was timed at 3:54 minutes with an Average Pace of 4:22 minutes/kilometer.

4th Yasso 800 lap was timed at 4:01 minutes with an Average Pace of 4:37 minutes/kilometer.

5th Yasso 800 lap was timed at 3:56 minutes with an Average Pace of 4:26 minute/kilometer.

In between laps, I jogged for 400 meters/one lap. Later, I jogged for 8 laps with an Average Pace of 5:15 minutes/kilometer. I had two laps as my cool-down run before performing my post-stretching exercises.

I was able to cover a distance of 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers for this morning’s run at the Iloilo City Oval Track.

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel 1120

Visit To Negros Island


14 March 2006

As I promised to my newly deployed troops in Negros Island to visit them once they are settled during their Send-Off Ceremony in Jamindan, Capiz two weeks ago, I fulfilled that promise by visiting my troops in Sagay City, located in the Northern part of Negros Island. The objective of my visit was to see to it that the location of my troops in relation to the reported location/s of the insurgents in the island is responsive to our operational mision in the area. I would like that the Insurgent’s Guerrilla Front in the said area be dismantled in three month’s time, together with the other Guerilla Fronts in the island of Negros. Continue reading “Visit To Negros Island”

20 Kms @ 1:58:13 Hours


13 March 2008 (5:29-7:30 AM)

Waking up early at 4:00 AM for the Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge and its postponement brought me to an earlier and another long run for today. Starting from my quarters at Fort Bonifacio, I proceeded to the Heritage Park up to C-5 Road and back towards the Libingan ng mga Bayani for one round taking the outermost roads of the park. From the Libingan, I went to the Headquarters Philippine Army Grandstand and had one round in its two-mile run route. I went out from Gate 1 of Fort Bonifacio and went to The Fort, going around the different routes inside the complex. From The Fort, I went back to Fort Bonifacio.

I was able to cover a distance of 20.10 kilometers with a time of 1:58:13 hours which was a little faster than my long run yesterday. I started at 5:29 AM and was able to finish the run at 7:30 AM with a slow jog back to my quarters. I had a 15-minute stretching after I finished my slow jog.

The following data were taken from my GF 305:

Distance—20.10 kilometers             Time—1:58:13 Hours

Average Pace—5:52 mins/km         Average Speed—10.2 kms/hr

Maximum Speed—14.2 kms/hr      Total Calories—1,470 cal

Average HR—154 bpm                     Maximum HR—172 bpm

Total Ascent—596 meters               Total Descent—589 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS-Gel 1120 

Music—Barry White: The Ultimate Collection (This “sexy” voice during the Disco Era in the 70’s-80’s died last year. Here are some of his songs—“You’re The First, The Last, My Everything”, “Love’s Theme”,”Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long”, “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Babe”, “Let The Music Play”, “Just The Way You Are”, “Love’s Theme”, and others).

This was my first time to use my Ipod Classic in my running workout.

Lessons Learned: 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon


These are the following reasons why I improved my PR best time for the Half-Marathon in this road race:

1)  More rest/no run days—After the Pasig River Marathon last 24 February, I barely had a running workout and rested the whole week. After the Condura 10K run on 02 March, I only ran for a short distance once during the week and had more time to rest, sleep for 7-8 hours every night before the DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon on 09 March. After logging so many miles/kilometers during my endurance & strengthening phase, I think I could easily increase my pace in road races. My body feels stronger and more relaxed when I have more rest days before the race day.

2)  Body Massage—Two days before the Condura 10K run, I had my body massage and I ran faster during the race. After the Condura run or the week before the Half-Marathon, I had my body massage for two times, Monday and Thursday. These two sessions of body massage made my muscles more relaxed and free from tightness and “lactic acid”. Continue reading “Lessons Learned: 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon”